A very famous buyer: U-M football legend Desmond Howard, now an ESPN sportscaster based in Miami, plunked down $800,000 for a 2-bed, 2-bath, 1,459-square-foot Liberty Lofts unit at 315 Second St. A clue to why may be found in city records: Howard co-owns it with wife Rebkah and their twin sons, Desmond Jr. and Dhamir, who are U-M freshmen this year. The twins appeared on ESPN’s College GameDay in September, Dhamir sporting a J.J. McCarthy jersey and a haircut with a block M. Des Jr. told reporter Jess Sims they were living in the same dorm, South Quad, that their 1991 Heisman–winning dad did. Their visiting parents will have sweeter digs.
Case study, $875K-ish edition: Observer real estate consultant Sue Maguire was impressed to see 2055 Camelot Rd., near Pattengill Elementary, on the map for $865,580. It’s a spacious, recently remodeled 5-bed, 4.5-bath, 2,928-square-foot Colonial built in 1974 on a quarter-acre lot. What else can you get of that stature for that kind of money? Maguire points to 3502 Barton Farm Dr., where $900,000 bought a 1986 5-bed, 4-bath, 4,195-square-footer just outside Barton Hills, and 1474 Ardmoor Ave., a 1941 bungalow much expanded into a 4-bed, 3-bath, 2,583-square-foot manse a mile west of the Big House. It sold for $877,000.
Mid-Century Modern House of the Month: In 2002, Veterans Administration psychiatrist Howard Shapiro spent $700,000 to become the second owner of 7 Regent Dr., a sprawling 3-bed, 2.5-bath, 2,860-square-footer designed by Frank Lloyd Wright protégé Alden Dow. The pictures evoke the Draper residence in Mad Men with its original mahogany doors, extensive wood paneling, generous windows, and built-in wardrobes. It is clear from the way Shapiro cared for the home, which has a private backyard gate to the Arb, that it was one of the loves of his life. When he died of cancer in May at sixty-one, his pride in the house even earned a line in his obituary. Shapiro’s heirs sold it for $1.35 million to tech entrepreneur Krisztian Flautner.
Related: Midcentury Mail
